I don’t watch television. I haven’t in about 7 years. Due to this I had only heard a fleetingly bit about the TV show Lost. And then the Universe had me meet Marc Oromaner the author of The Myth of Lost. http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Lost-Solving-Mysteries-Understanding/dp/0595484565 Marc came to one of my Joseph Campbell workshops a few months ago and cast a spell over me to watch it. His description of it was unlike any I had ever heard of for a Television show.
Marc’s insistence that this show was mythological in every way and his assurance that within the first three episodes I would agree intrigued me.
Lost is the kind of show that you must watch from the beginning and it is the most addictive show, I’ve seen. Why is it addictive? Because you know all the characters really well already, thus you’re invested in what happens to each of them. How do you know them if you’ve never watched the show? Because they are you and me. They are your parents and your neighbors, your co-workers and your lovers.
It is like watching the collective unconscious play out while watching your own personal unconscious reveal itself. I have found messages for me and my life in some unexpected ways while watching this show. I have also found more empathy for others realizing that each human we meet has a “back story” we can’t even begin to imagine.
As Marc says in his book, in spite of our all being lost at one time or another, we are all connected and here to improve ourselves and help others do the same. Life, just like Lost, leaves us every day with more questions than with answers. We are all living and loving and suffering in the paradox of what our island aka our life presents to us. Watching this show has made me pay closer attention to the signs around me and become more aware of how those in my life assist me in improving myself AND how I assist them.
This show will make you realize once and for all how NOT alone you are. And it will give you the gift of gratitude. For as challenging as my life has been or can be I’m reminded when watching other lives with their personal journey, that I still chose my life over theirs any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
This show is as close to a Walkabout as you can have without having to leave your couch. Go get Lost and find yourself.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Run to the Roar
This blog posting here on 3/5/09 is my YES to fellow Greenlighter Scott Sonnon's challenge to post a hundred blog postings in a 100 days. Short term goal: finally have my ebook. Long term goal: Develop my brand. Scott is my Accountability Partner AKA Lifeline (discussed in Keith Ferrazzi's new book Who's Got Your Back.) I would love your advice and input thru this journey! Please share!
Who is Scott Sonnon: www.YourPainFreeMobility.com
What is a Greenlighter: www.GreenlightCommunity.com
"Emotions are physical. Our bodies are the only place they can ever be found." ~Raphael Cushnir
Now that we are in our third month of the New Year most of us have fallen off our New Year's Resolution wagon. Usually this experience has a one-two punch. We haven't stuck to our much desired resolution and then the salt gets poured in the wound because we are furious with ourselves for not having the willpower to stick with it.
Thanks to Raphael Cushnir I want to suggest that more powerful than will power is emotional connection. In Mr. Cushnir's new book, The One Thing Holding You Back, we learn that when we engage in willpower we have two sides fighting against each other. The part that still wants to say... eat chocolate cake and the other part of us that does not. He suggests that willpower might work for a time, but usually there is a pushback that will ultimately occur in which the defeated part will express itself.
He speaks about our learning to connect to the emotions that are occurring in us when have a behavior we might call compulsive (or even addictive) shows up. He suggests that if we are not self-opposed we will have a better time sustaining our new behavior. Learning to NOT make ourselves wrong for the experience in the first place, is step one in our emotional connecting to what is going on for us.
He suggests a 2 X 2 approach. First 2: Place the mind's attention on emotional sensation in our body. Keep the attention there until is dissipates. Second 2: Slow down. Get microscopic.
Cushnir shows us that in our avoidance of uncomfortable feelings (sometime very uncomfortable feelings) that come up for us we inadvertently keep repeating the same old unsuccessful patterns again and again because we never fully connect to the emotions that need to be felt and he says that if we finally allow them to be experienced we will set ourselves free of them once and for all. The discomfort they bring us instinctively makes us shy away and he suggests if we can stay in that initial discomfort even a minute or two at a time, we will eventually break free of their powerful grip.
It makes me think of the story Run to the Roar. When lions are about to attack a prey they surround it by placing the youngest most agile lion opposite their oldest lion who has the most intimidating roar. When the prey hears the roar they run opposite it -right toward the young swift lion instead of the old man of the group.
As Cushnir says this is simple but not easy. So here is my suggestion, ask yourself what emotion/s do you always avoid? Give yourself privacy and space before and after this exercise because what might come up might be more than you expect. Allow the emotion/s to surface even if it is just for a minute or two at a time. BE WITH IT using the 2 X 2 process. Watch what happens, neutrally; don't make it "mean" anything, the less descriptive words the better.
Now you might need to repeat this process, especially for those with emotions that have been buried for years. They will take more time. But giving them space to be felt will mean they won't hold you back any more. This month's quote, We seek the teeth to match our wounds, comes from Cushnir's book because he says we must allow these wounds to heal so that we won't seek those same teeth any longer. Be gentle with yourself and respect your body/mind/spirit's ability to do this. Do this at your own pace. But do do it. It's time for you to not be held back. And the only way out is through. Run to your roar.
For More on Raphael Cushnir read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raphael-cushnir/our-economic-crisis-is-an_b_171989.html
Who is Scott Sonnon: www.YourPainFreeMobility.com
What is a Greenlighter: www.GreenlightCommunity.com
"Emotions are physical. Our bodies are the only place they can ever be found." ~Raphael Cushnir
Now that we are in our third month of the New Year most of us have fallen off our New Year's Resolution wagon. Usually this experience has a one-two punch. We haven't stuck to our much desired resolution and then the salt gets poured in the wound because we are furious with ourselves for not having the willpower to stick with it.
Thanks to Raphael Cushnir I want to suggest that more powerful than will power is emotional connection. In Mr. Cushnir's new book, The One Thing Holding You Back, we learn that when we engage in willpower we have two sides fighting against each other. The part that still wants to say... eat chocolate cake and the other part of us that does not. He suggests that willpower might work for a time, but usually there is a pushback that will ultimately occur in which the defeated part will express itself.
He speaks about our learning to connect to the emotions that are occurring in us when have a behavior we might call compulsive (or even addictive) shows up. He suggests that if we are not self-opposed we will have a better time sustaining our new behavior. Learning to NOT make ourselves wrong for the experience in the first place, is step one in our emotional connecting to what is going on for us.
He suggests a 2 X 2 approach. First 2: Place the mind's attention on emotional sensation in our body. Keep the attention there until is dissipates. Second 2: Slow down. Get microscopic.
Cushnir shows us that in our avoidance of uncomfortable feelings (sometime very uncomfortable feelings) that come up for us we inadvertently keep repeating the same old unsuccessful patterns again and again because we never fully connect to the emotions that need to be felt and he says that if we finally allow them to be experienced we will set ourselves free of them once and for all. The discomfort they bring us instinctively makes us shy away and he suggests if we can stay in that initial discomfort even a minute or two at a time, we will eventually break free of their powerful grip.
It makes me think of the story Run to the Roar. When lions are about to attack a prey they surround it by placing the youngest most agile lion opposite their oldest lion who has the most intimidating roar. When the prey hears the roar they run opposite it -right toward the young swift lion instead of the old man of the group.
As Cushnir says this is simple but not easy. So here is my suggestion, ask yourself what emotion/s do you always avoid? Give yourself privacy and space before and after this exercise because what might come up might be more than you expect. Allow the emotion/s to surface even if it is just for a minute or two at a time. BE WITH IT using the 2 X 2 process. Watch what happens, neutrally; don't make it "mean" anything, the less descriptive words the better.
Now you might need to repeat this process, especially for those with emotions that have been buried for years. They will take more time. But giving them space to be felt will mean they won't hold you back any more. This month's quote, We seek the teeth to match our wounds, comes from Cushnir's book because he says we must allow these wounds to heal so that we won't seek those same teeth any longer. Be gentle with yourself and respect your body/mind/spirit's ability to do this. Do this at your own pace. But do do it. It's time for you to not be held back. And the only way out is through. Run to your roar.
For More on Raphael Cushnir read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raphael-cushnir/our-economic-crisis-is-an_b_171989.html
Sunday, February 15, 2009
What Are You Holding Onto?
"We fear it is all we have. Even its sufferings are familiar and we clutch them because their very familiarity is comforting...Yet so long as we aim at the maintenance of this present self, as we now conceive it, we cannot enter the larger selfhood which is pressing for life." ~Daniel Day Williams
Last Sunday I had an eye opening conversation with a friend. And funnily enough I now realize that the Universe was preparing me for it by putting Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life literally in my hands the week prior. I love Louise Hay, in her books she ties together how our beliefs, conscious or unconscious create our life; either physically through our health, financially through our check book, or in the relationships we attract. After reading her work you truly come away believing you are the master of your own fate.
I had flipped through this book at a friend's home a while ago and in the last month I realized I wanted my own copy. While walking down the street, four weeks ago I noticed a pile of books someone had discarded and right on top of the pile in excellent condition was You Can Heal Your Life, a fancy illustrated version, no less. As one friend said, clearly the Universe wanted me to get going with healing my own life! I was struck with the chapter on clearing out the old. She strongly recommends getting rid of clothing and knick knacks that are no longer serving us. If there has been no use of it in a year -she says LET IT GO! She says that we need to make room in our lives for the Universe/God/Goddess to be able to come in with the new and or needed.
Since reading it I became anxious to clean out my closets. And after doing so I felt much lighter, but this was just an appetizer to what lay ahead.
Back to last Sunday's conversation; I mentioned casually to a friend who is knowledgeable about Feng Shui, that I had 5 boxes in the basement of my apartment that contained papers my mom had had from 15-20 years ago. These papers have been a big part of my life, even in the years when my family and I were without a home I was diligent about keeping these documents safe. My feelings as the years went on were that these papers might eventually explain the reason for those very difficult years.
When I mentioned this to my friend she stopped the conversation cold, and looked me straight in the eye and asked me, "Are you telling me that you have 5 big boxes of papers that represent all the pain and lack of those years sitting on the foundation of where you live?" I was stunned with the way she put it. Yes, I replied. And I noticed a lot of resistance coming up over the idea of getting rid of them. I started to defend why I kept them, what they meant, what power they might indeed hold. The further I defended them the more I began to realize that as scary as it was, their time to be cleared out of my life had come.
The interesting thing is that I was approaching the anniversary of my mother's death. Friday, January 30th would be six years. And letting my mother go on many levels has been a significant process for me and my healing in the last six years. I realized that to let these papers go was exactly the next step in my releasing her.
And as quick as that, I just knew I had to do it. I raced home after that conversation and brought each box up out of the basement. And as I climbed up the five flights of stairs five times with each box I began to realize the enormity of the task before me. With or without a shredder this was going to take a long time. I began to wish I had a bonfire to put them all in. Now that I had made my decision, I really felt the weight of them and I could feel myself growing anxious and impatient with their presence. Now that I wanted them gone just how was I going to shred or tear them all up properly without it taking every waking hour of the entire week?
Well the Universe served up my solution. The next day as I walked in mid-town I noticed a garbage truck on 51st street between Lexington and Park Avenue. It was an independent carting company so I thought let me ask the guy crushing up stuff at the back if he has any ideas about where I could discard all these papers. (A side note: this truck was actually outside the side door to my church, St. Bartholomew's and just off that entry is the memorial chapel where my mother's ashes are laid to rest.)
I ask "Mario" where one can take stuff to be either incinerated or safely discarded so that one doesn't have to shred. Mario asked, "How many boxes of paper do you have?" I said, "Five good size boxes." He then asked where was I located in the city. I replied 84th and First. "Five boxes, that ain't that much." Mario says. "I think I can fit them in this truck easily enough. How about when I finish here in midtown I swing past your place and you can throw them in. I leave the city and go straight to the dump." And so he did! I had my own personal garbage truck pick up the boxes outside my apartment at 7 pm on a Monday night -less than 28 hours after I made the decision to let them go.
As I watched those boxes get crushed right before my eyes I cried as I watch them disappear, knowing that I was letting go of the old and making room for the new. It was scary and beautiful all at the same time.
As the truck drove off I started to walk away but something within said to turn around and look at the truck one last time. And for the first time I noticed the name of the carting company: Independence.
I ask you now, as we start the new year, where is it in your life that you need Independence? What do you need to let go of? What do you know is not serving you anymore? Is it a relationship, a belief or resentment? It might be something tangible or esoteric. Whatever it is open your hands, and release it. You might be scared; you might be so comfortable with the weight that you can't imagine life without it. Trust that the Universe will be there for you - to catch it from your hands and replace it with love.
You will find yourself lighter and freer. And your heart and your home will then have room for the abundance that wants to come to you. And come it will.
Last Sunday I had an eye opening conversation with a friend. And funnily enough I now realize that the Universe was preparing me for it by putting Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life literally in my hands the week prior. I love Louise Hay, in her books she ties together how our beliefs, conscious or unconscious create our life; either physically through our health, financially through our check book, or in the relationships we attract. After reading her work you truly come away believing you are the master of your own fate.
I had flipped through this book at a friend's home a while ago and in the last month I realized I wanted my own copy. While walking down the street, four weeks ago I noticed a pile of books someone had discarded and right on top of the pile in excellent condition was You Can Heal Your Life, a fancy illustrated version, no less. As one friend said, clearly the Universe wanted me to get going with healing my own life! I was struck with the chapter on clearing out the old. She strongly recommends getting rid of clothing and knick knacks that are no longer serving us. If there has been no use of it in a year -she says LET IT GO! She says that we need to make room in our lives for the Universe/God/Goddess to be able to come in with the new and or needed.
Since reading it I became anxious to clean out my closets. And after doing so I felt much lighter, but this was just an appetizer to what lay ahead.
Back to last Sunday's conversation; I mentioned casually to a friend who is knowledgeable about Feng Shui, that I had 5 boxes in the basement of my apartment that contained papers my mom had had from 15-20 years ago. These papers have been a big part of my life, even in the years when my family and I were without a home I was diligent about keeping these documents safe. My feelings as the years went on were that these papers might eventually explain the reason for those very difficult years.
When I mentioned this to my friend she stopped the conversation cold, and looked me straight in the eye and asked me, "Are you telling me that you have 5 big boxes of papers that represent all the pain and lack of those years sitting on the foundation of where you live?" I was stunned with the way she put it. Yes, I replied. And I noticed a lot of resistance coming up over the idea of getting rid of them. I started to defend why I kept them, what they meant, what power they might indeed hold. The further I defended them the more I began to realize that as scary as it was, their time to be cleared out of my life had come.
The interesting thing is that I was approaching the anniversary of my mother's death. Friday, January 30th would be six years. And letting my mother go on many levels has been a significant process for me and my healing in the last six years. I realized that to let these papers go was exactly the next step in my releasing her.
And as quick as that, I just knew I had to do it. I raced home after that conversation and brought each box up out of the basement. And as I climbed up the five flights of stairs five times with each box I began to realize the enormity of the task before me. With or without a shredder this was going to take a long time. I began to wish I had a bonfire to put them all in. Now that I had made my decision, I really felt the weight of them and I could feel myself growing anxious and impatient with their presence. Now that I wanted them gone just how was I going to shred or tear them all up properly without it taking every waking hour of the entire week?
Well the Universe served up my solution. The next day as I walked in mid-town I noticed a garbage truck on 51st street between Lexington and Park Avenue. It was an independent carting company so I thought let me ask the guy crushing up stuff at the back if he has any ideas about where I could discard all these papers. (A side note: this truck was actually outside the side door to my church, St. Bartholomew's and just off that entry is the memorial chapel where my mother's ashes are laid to rest.)
I ask "Mario" where one can take stuff to be either incinerated or safely discarded so that one doesn't have to shred. Mario asked, "How many boxes of paper do you have?" I said, "Five good size boxes." He then asked where was I located in the city. I replied 84th and First. "Five boxes, that ain't that much." Mario says. "I think I can fit them in this truck easily enough. How about when I finish here in midtown I swing past your place and you can throw them in. I leave the city and go straight to the dump." And so he did! I had my own personal garbage truck pick up the boxes outside my apartment at 7 pm on a Monday night -less than 28 hours after I made the decision to let them go.
As I watched those boxes get crushed right before my eyes I cried as I watch them disappear, knowing that I was letting go of the old and making room for the new. It was scary and beautiful all at the same time.
As the truck drove off I started to walk away but something within said to turn around and look at the truck one last time. And for the first time I noticed the name of the carting company: Independence.
I ask you now, as we start the new year, where is it in your life that you need Independence? What do you need to let go of? What do you know is not serving you anymore? Is it a relationship, a belief or resentment? It might be something tangible or esoteric. Whatever it is open your hands, and release it. You might be scared; you might be so comfortable with the weight that you can't imagine life without it. Trust that the Universe will be there for you - to catch it from your hands and replace it with love.
You will find yourself lighter and freer. And your heart and your home will then have room for the abundance that wants to come to you. And come it will.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
How Mean to Yourself Are You?
Those who know me know how much Non Violent Communication means to me. I have been saturating myself in Marshall Rosenberg's work for some time now. But tonight I'm struck by the violence in which I use when speaking to myself. You know, "You idiot, how could you leave that glove in the cab!?" "You shouldn't have been talking on the phone and trying to use your cc all at the same time! You deserve losing your favorite glove!" You know THAT kind of self-talk. I realized tonight that I sometimes beat the hell out of myself without a second thought sometime even multiple times a day. And I wonder why some days are harder than others?! It's no wonder. What would it be like for me to have mercy and empathy for myself? What if in response to losing this beautiful dark green suede glove I said to myself, "Wow, you never lose anything! You poor thing - you must be so upset losing that beautiful left handed glove that matched your pocket book just so! But since you are so on top of things this almost never happens to you! In fact you can't even recall the last time you even lost something because you are always so careful!"
Can you imagine if the kind of compassion and empathy a dear friend would give us was what we could give ourselves? How much less wine would we need to drink? How much less cake would we need to eat? How much more love could we show the world if we just showed a little bit more to ourselves?
Can you imagine if the kind of compassion and empathy a dear friend would give us was what we could give ourselves? How much less wine would we need to drink? How much less cake would we need to eat? How much more love could we show the world if we just showed a little bit more to ourselves?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Revolutionary Road
This is a film that will make you really happy if you know you haven't settled. It will probably upset you if you have.
For those who have chosen to follow their dream, come what may, well you will feel vindicated, in fact. You will feel a sense of relief, a sense of Thank GOD I didn't take that other road.
If you have taken that other road, realize only this, it's not too late. It's never too late. There is always time for you to take the road your soul knows you should. TAKE IT, don't delay. Your life can start right NOW.
The choice is yours. Choose your path, come what may. Follow only this, "Choose the path with a heart."
Superpowers
"The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy." ~Meryl Streep
I went with some new friends to see Slum Dog Millionaire. I love this film. Let me tell you that right from the get-go! And I needed to leave for a good chunk of it. I have had a really hard time, as far back as I can remember, being with violence or cruelty either in movies or books, not to mention in person! Here's why: I'm empathic. What the heck does that mean you ask? Webster's Dictionary says that empathic means "of or showing empathy." For me it means to feel things as though I myself am going through it. In spite of knowing that I'm watching a movie, reading a book, or hearing someone speak about their experience, I experience their pain as if it were my own. Sometimes it's a literal physical experience for me. At times it's so deep and powerful that it can be a little scary.
There is a great quote from the movie Bandit's where two main characters commiserate over how so many things affect them and one says to the other, "I think it's better to feel too much, then to feel too little." I loved hearing that because I have, for most of my life, felt a bit like a freak feeling all these things so strongly. I was fortunate that night at Slum Dog Millionaire, that my new friends were open-minded and accepting of me and what happened. They inquired kindly about it after we met up in the lobby afterward. They didn't make me feel bad - in fact one of them actually said, "You know what? I think that's your superpower."
I agree. It is my superpower AND with all superpowers one needs to learn how to harness and manage them properly. There are some fine tuned directions about how to navigate this gift and not be knocked about by it. The best teacher I've had in this department, not to mention a slew of other departments, is my coach, mentor, friend and "Guru on a mountain-top" Julie Cramer. Julie has been invaluable to me for so many of my healings and breakthroughs. She has been my North Star for much of my journey. She has taught me how to "surf" this gift -among others.
Her skills go beyond teaching. Yes, she instructs on how to handle the unique aspects that the gifts we have require but she also "sees" you in a way you have never been seen before. She is nothing short of miraculous.
I have had the opportunity to experience coaching from some of the best coaches available and what I have experienced with Julie is beyond my ability to adequately express. She is gifted with wisdom and empathy unlike I've ever encountered.
Please join me in welcoming her to her first event in NYC on Saturday, January 17. Julie's talk will begin at 10 AM at the Meta Center, with one-on-one readings following. I invite you to come and learn how to manage your gifts and superpowers. You will be moved and inspired. More details about it below.
Keep in mind that there are many other superpowers. Remember how many Super Heroes there are! Each with his/her own special talent.
If this doesn't sound like yours then allow yourself to sit still and sink into the quiet of your soul. I betcha you'll have it surface if you pose yourself the question.
Let it rise up this New Year. Allow it to surface so it may save you and the rest of us.
Here's to a Divine 09 for us all!
I went with some new friends to see Slum Dog Millionaire. I love this film. Let me tell you that right from the get-go! And I needed to leave for a good chunk of it. I have had a really hard time, as far back as I can remember, being with violence or cruelty either in movies or books, not to mention in person! Here's why: I'm empathic. What the heck does that mean you ask? Webster's Dictionary says that empathic means "of or showing empathy." For me it means to feel things as though I myself am going through it. In spite of knowing that I'm watching a movie, reading a book, or hearing someone speak about their experience, I experience their pain as if it were my own. Sometimes it's a literal physical experience for me. At times it's so deep and powerful that it can be a little scary.
There is a great quote from the movie Bandit's where two main characters commiserate over how so many things affect them and one says to the other, "I think it's better to feel too much, then to feel too little." I loved hearing that because I have, for most of my life, felt a bit like a freak feeling all these things so strongly. I was fortunate that night at Slum Dog Millionaire, that my new friends were open-minded and accepting of me and what happened. They inquired kindly about it after we met up in the lobby afterward. They didn't make me feel bad - in fact one of them actually said, "You know what? I think that's your superpower."
I agree. It is my superpower AND with all superpowers one needs to learn how to harness and manage them properly. There are some fine tuned directions about how to navigate this gift and not be knocked about by it. The best teacher I've had in this department, not to mention a slew of other departments, is my coach, mentor, friend and "Guru on a mountain-top" Julie Cramer. Julie has been invaluable to me for so many of my healings and breakthroughs. She has been my North Star for much of my journey. She has taught me how to "surf" this gift -among others.
Her skills go beyond teaching. Yes, she instructs on how to handle the unique aspects that the gifts we have require but she also "sees" you in a way you have never been seen before. She is nothing short of miraculous.
I have had the opportunity to experience coaching from some of the best coaches available and what I have experienced with Julie is beyond my ability to adequately express. She is gifted with wisdom and empathy unlike I've ever encountered.
Please join me in welcoming her to her first event in NYC on Saturday, January 17. Julie's talk will begin at 10 AM at the Meta Center, with one-on-one readings following. I invite you to come and learn how to manage your gifts and superpowers. You will be moved and inspired. More details about it below.
Keep in mind that there are many other superpowers. Remember how many Super Heroes there are! Each with his/her own special talent.
If this doesn't sound like yours then allow yourself to sit still and sink into the quiet of your soul. I betcha you'll have it surface if you pose yourself the question.
Let it rise up this New Year. Allow it to surface so it may save you and the rest of us.
Here's to a Divine 09 for us all!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
What’s Your Deep Gladness AKA Calling?
During this time of upheaval I have had a lot of folks speaking to me about what else they might do for a living. Seems like there are a lot of people that have been doing what they do sort of by default – either the money or the opportunity presented itself and they just ran with it. Not that there is anything wrong with that but at some point there are those who feel a stirring in their soul for something more.
Of course there are a few folks who found what they were born to do early on – for others, including me, this wasn’t the case. I got my hit almost two years ago and I can tell you before that it was annoying knowing there were folks out living their “Bliss” and yet I couldn’t figure out mine. My friend Frances used to say to me exasperatedly, “You shouldn’t be working for a CEO you should be a CEO.” I would think, “Okay, but CEO of what?!”
Now I can’t quite explain exactly how I did stumble into my calling although I do see some of the stepping stones that brought me to it. I certainly was constantly seeking it and I believe that the searching ultimately called it forth. Certainly living in the question moves it along.
One book with an interesting take is James Hillman’s The Soul’s Code In Search of Character and Calling he speaks about our “daimon” or “genius.” He asserts that character is fate and shows how the soul asserts itself sometimes at an early age. He tells us how children when perceived as challenging might be actually just unintentionally showing us the early signs of who they will be. He suggests with this new way of looking “then we may see disturbances in them less as developmental problems than as revelatory emblems.” He also talks about us choosing the life we have. Our parents, the monsters or lovers that they are or were, we chose -prior to arriving, so we would step into that which could and would form us. That we knew what was needed to call our destiny forth. One of his reviewers says that “Hillman dares us to believe that we are each meant to be here; that we are needed by the world around us.”
Frederick Buechner says “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet,” Can you step into that even briefly? What if you and your deep gladness is exactly what is needed here? What if the world hungers for you and your gifts?
If you are curious begin with this question:
If you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?
Let your imagination go wild. No limits. Really sit with that and put down what ever comes up for you in a notebook. Write out your answer, no typing. (The act of actually writing has some sort of magic to it that typing doesn’t.) Let this exercise take as long as you need so you can get to the juice. It might take longer than you expect. But it’s a question that is worth seeking the answer to.
Campbell says that we must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. What if the life that is waiting for us is what we truly want?
This is the beginning of course, but any great journey begins with a first step.
The Challenge
As you approach this New Year I challenge you to step into it with a new vision for yourself. The exercise above is a good way to begin to form that vision. It need not be grand, but it must be different. Step out of your comfort zone. Take a course that you know nothing about. Speak up for an issue you believe in. Go somewhere that you never saw yourself visiting. Are you afraid of heights? Go to trapeze school. Do you love opera? Listen only to hard rock for a month with the intent to enjoy it. Do you dislike animals? Volunteer at an animal shelter. Take a course on a religion different than yours. Are you shy? Then wear something shiny and go out on the town in limo and hit all the hot spots with your sunglasses on!
I want you to mix it up! Let me know what shows up for you. And let’s see where it takes you!
May your holidays be filled with innocence, hope and laughter.
Other titles on this topic that I recommend:
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
What Color Is Your Parachute?
How to Find Your Mission In Life both by Richard Bolles
What Would You Do If You Had No Fear by Diane Conway
Pathways To Bliss Joseph Campbell
During this time of upheaval I have had a lot of folks speaking to me about what else they might do for a living. Seems like there are a lot of people that have been doing what they do sort of by default – either the money or the opportunity presented itself and they just ran with it. Not that there is anything wrong with that but at some point there are those who feel a stirring in their soul for something more.
Of course there are a few folks who found what they were born to do early on – for others, including me, this wasn’t the case. I got my hit almost two years ago and I can tell you before that it was annoying knowing there were folks out living their “Bliss” and yet I couldn’t figure out mine. My friend Frances used to say to me exasperatedly, “You shouldn’t be working for a CEO you should be a CEO.” I would think, “Okay, but CEO of what?!”
Now I can’t quite explain exactly how I did stumble into my calling although I do see some of the stepping stones that brought me to it. I certainly was constantly seeking it and I believe that the searching ultimately called it forth. Certainly living in the question moves it along.
One book with an interesting take is James Hillman’s The Soul’s Code In Search of Character and Calling he speaks about our “daimon” or “genius.” He asserts that character is fate and shows how the soul asserts itself sometimes at an early age. He tells us how children when perceived as challenging might be actually just unintentionally showing us the early signs of who they will be. He suggests with this new way of looking “then we may see disturbances in them less as developmental problems than as revelatory emblems.” He also talks about us choosing the life we have. Our parents, the monsters or lovers that they are or were, we chose -prior to arriving, so we would step into that which could and would form us. That we knew what was needed to call our destiny forth. One of his reviewers says that “Hillman dares us to believe that we are each meant to be here; that we are needed by the world around us.”
Frederick Buechner says “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet,” Can you step into that even briefly? What if you and your deep gladness is exactly what is needed here? What if the world hungers for you and your gifts?
If you are curious begin with this question:
If you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?
Let your imagination go wild. No limits. Really sit with that and put down what ever comes up for you in a notebook. Write out your answer, no typing. (The act of actually writing has some sort of magic to it that typing doesn’t.) Let this exercise take as long as you need so you can get to the juice. It might take longer than you expect. But it’s a question that is worth seeking the answer to.
Campbell says that we must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. What if the life that is waiting for us is what we truly want?
This is the beginning of course, but any great journey begins with a first step.
The Challenge
As you approach this New Year I challenge you to step into it with a new vision for yourself. The exercise above is a good way to begin to form that vision. It need not be grand, but it must be different. Step out of your comfort zone. Take a course that you know nothing about. Speak up for an issue you believe in. Go somewhere that you never saw yourself visiting. Are you afraid of heights? Go to trapeze school. Do you love opera? Listen only to hard rock for a month with the intent to enjoy it. Do you dislike animals? Volunteer at an animal shelter. Take a course on a religion different than yours. Are you shy? Then wear something shiny and go out on the town in limo and hit all the hot spots with your sunglasses on!
I want you to mix it up! Let me know what shows up for you. And let’s see where it takes you!
May your holidays be filled with innocence, hope and laughter.
Other titles on this topic that I recommend:
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
What Color Is Your Parachute?
How to Find Your Mission In Life both by Richard Bolles
What Would You Do If You Had No Fear by Diane Conway
Pathways To Bliss Joseph Campbell
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